Reply To: Game Intelligence / Decision Training

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, when I was coaching for the Red Bulls U17 team we had 45 trainings a month. This included 4-5 team practices M-F and skill practices t-Th morning. They had 3 off ice sessions M-W-F and a skating treadmill session two games a week; sometimes F-Sat and sometimes Sat-Sun. They usually got Sunday off. The skill sessions were done with the U20 team and the Russian Jursinov came one week per month to work with them. The two pro teams had similar training but the games for the top team were Sun.-T-F, so their skill sessions were M-W morning.

So there is much more emphasis on skill development and core fitness.

When I was in Jihlava, Czech Republic they had a similar training schedule but the biggest difference was that the youth coaches were ALL former players who had great technique and they passed that on to the youth.

When talking with Slava Lener, the head of Czech Hockey, he told me that Czechoslovakia used to have 80 000 players. Now the two countries of Czech Republic and Slovakia only have a total of 32 000 youth hockey players. Compare that to about 500 000 for each of Canada and the USA and you can see that to be competitive they have to do a great job in player development.

Here in Calgary we have the same amount of AA and AAA teams as when the city had 300 000 instead of a million people. They try out for the quadrants at 13 and if they don't make it many quit. Attrition is 80% by the age of 14. In Europe they can't afford to cut players because they are not early maturers of born the first three months of the year. They try to keep everyone playing and train them to be skilled then wait for them to grow.

A school like the Edge should be able to match the skill development because they have two arenas and a field house to train the players.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'